The IKEA Edge: Building Global Growth and Social Good at the World's Most Iconic Home Store

The IKEA Edge: Building Global Growth and Social Good at the World's Most Iconic Home Store

by Anders Dahlvig
The IKEA Edge: Building Global Growth and Social Good at the World's Most Iconic Home Store

The IKEA Edge: Building Global Growth and Social Good at the World's Most Iconic Home Store

by Anders Dahlvig

Hardcover(List)

$36.00 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Qualifies for Free Shipping
    Choose Expedited Shipping at checkout for delivery by Thursday, April 4
  • PICK UP IN STORE
    Check Availability at Nearby Stores

Related collections and offers


Overview

Praise for The IKEA Edge

“A very good book from a talented business leader [that links] values, culture, and the achievement of business and social objectives together. I have read it now three times and learned something from every passage.”
—Michael Spence, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, 2001

“With Anders Dahlvig’s recommendations, we could solve many of the world’s problems by persuading the big multinationals to change their Memorandum and Articles of Association. Big business working in the interests of humanity would be a powerful tool.”
—Gordon Roddick, cofounder of The Body Shop

“The IKEA Edge is a fascinating case study of an entrepreneurial company’s growth to maturity. Anders Dahlvig is incisive and surprisingly straightforward in sharing the IKEA story. As a fourth-generation family business owner, I recognize the inherent paradox of building a ‘good,’ value-driven company and managing for profit. Anders Dahlvig proves it can be done.”
—Antonia Axson Johnson, Chairperson, Axel Johnson AB

About the Book:

With Anders Dahlvig at the helm from 1999 to 2009, the furniture giant IKEA averaged 11 percent yearly sales growth and annual operating profits in excess of 10 percent. The company hired more than 70,000 new employees and opened new stores around the world—all while maintaining its reputation as one of the world’s best corporate citizens.

In The IKEA Edge, Dahlvig tells the story of how IKEA matured from an entrepreneurial startup to a leader in the furniture industry. He recounts his 26-year career at the company and what he learned along the way. In his rise from store manager to president, Dahlvig developed the unique vision he relied upon to lead IKEA through good times and bad—by combining traditional business goals like profit and growth with the progressive interests of social responsibility and environmental stewardship. Dahlvig proves that these objectives, which are usually viewed as polar opposites, can actually work wonders together.

The IKEA Edge serves as an expansive case study for “doing good business while being a good business.” Dahlvig clearly lays out the cornerstones that support IKEA: a vision of social responsibility; market leadership with a balanced global portfolio; differentiation through control of the value chain; and building for the long term—four principles that can be applied in any business, in any industry. social and business agenda—and it continues to grow, even during the worst global recession in history. In a time when the public’s trust of business has hit bottom, such an approach to business is more critical than ever.

A combination of personal memoir, call to action, and strategic vision, The IKEA Edge provides the inspiration and information you need to develop a social-good/good-business agenda for your own company. Public trust, brand recognition, customer loyalty, and a world-class reputation will soon follow.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780071777650
Publisher: McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date: 12/02/2011
Edition description: List
Pages: 208
Sales rank: 787,947
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.22(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Anders Dahlvig is the former president and CEO of IKEA. In 2006, he received the U.S. Foreign Policy Association’s Global Social Responsibility Award, and in 2009 he earned the Oslo Business for Peace Award. Dahlvig is a regular keynote speaker at international conferences, such as GDI International Conference on Retailing, UN Global Compact Summit, IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Greenpeace Annual Conference, ECR Europe, and World Retail Congress.

Table of Contents

Prologue vii

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 The Four Cornerstones of a Good Business 1

Part 1 A Vision of Social Responsibility

Chapter 2 Maintaining a Strong and Dynamic Corporate Culture 15

Chapter 3 Diversity: A Good Business Choice 31

Chapter 4 The Environmental Agenda 35

Chapter 5 The Market Perspective 49

Part 2 Differentiation through Control of the Value Chain

Chapter 6 Creating a Unique Product Range 69

Chapter 7 Building a Supply Chain to Deliver Low Prices 79

Chapter 8 Efficient Retail Stores 91

Chapter 9 Effective Communication 97

Chapter 10 Working as One Company 101

Chapter 11 Staying on Track 113

Part 3 Market Leadership and a Balanced Market Portfolio

Chapter 12 The Market Strategy 127

Chapter 13 The European Expansion 131

Chapter 14 Strengthening Ikea in the United States 135

Chapter 15 Developments in Russia and Asia-Pacific 139

Chapter 16 A Local Company or a Global Retailer? 149

Chapter 17 Global Expansion in Retail 153

Part 4 Building for the Long Term

Chapter 18 The Financials 171

Chapter 19 The Role of the CEO l75

Conclusion: Doing Good Business while Being a Good Business 185

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews